Botswana is positioning its capital market as a potential gateway for wider African investment as the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) and the Committee of SADC Stock Exchanges (CoSSE) advance an ambitious regional initiative linked to the proposed Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE transaction.
The proposed programme seeks to facilitate participation by investors across Southern Africa through a sponsored Depository Receipt (DR) to be listed on the BSE, creating a structure through which investors can gain access to a major African securities transaction through their domestic market infrastructure.
At the heart of the initiative is a broader ambition: connecting African capital markets and making it easier for investors in one country to access investment opportunities in another.
Under the proposed structure, interested CoSSE member exchanges would provide regulated domestic access, distribution and order-routing channels in their respective markets, while the BSE would serve as the host exchange for the regional DR.
The initiative forms part of CoSSE’s wider market-interconnectivity programme, designed to deepen links between SADC capital markets and progressively improve cross-border access to securities.
CoSSE Chairperson Collen Tapfumanei and BSE Chief Executive Officer Aupa Monyatsi, who jointly signed the statement, said the programme is being developed with the relevant transaction parties and remains subject to the necessary approvals.
The two said the initiative could demonstrate how African capital markets can collaborate to broaden investor participation in major transactions while preserving the important role of domestic market institutions.
The proposed framework is also designed to accommodate CoSSE member exchanges regardless of their current stage of participation in the interconnectivity programme.
Investors would continue to engage through approved institutions in their home markets, with brokers, custodians, nominees, central securities depositories and banking partners supporting onboarding, subscriptions, settlement and subsequent secondary-market transactions.
BSE eyes regional market-making role
For Botswana, the proposed transaction could further showcase the country’s securities-market infrastructure and the BSE’s potential role in facilitating regional investment flows.
According to the joint statement, the BSE would provide the central listing and trading venue for the regional DR, supported by the relevant depository, custody, settlement and market-intermediary arrangements.
The approach is intended to concentrate liquidity while providing common regional reference pricing and reducing unnecessary duplication of listings and continuing-obligation requirements across multiple jurisdictions.
Tapfumanei and Monyatsi said the initiative is also intended to create a reusable framework that could support future Depository Receipts, cross-border securities distribution and other regional investment opportunities.
However, the transaction remains firmly in the development stage.
The BSE and CoSSE stressed that implementation is subject to agreement with the issuer and its advisers, completion of transaction documentation, appointment and confirmation of service providers, as well as regulatory and market approvals in Botswana, Nigeria and participating CoSSE jurisdictions.
“The proposed regional DR programme is currently being finalised with the relevant transaction parties,” the joint statement says.
The organisations further cautioned that the announcement should not be interpreted as an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase securities.
Final details on the structure, participating markets, investor eligibility, subscription procedures, timetable and approved distribution channels will only be communicated once the necessary approvals and arrangements have been completed.
For Botswana’s capital market, however, the initiative represents a significant regional experiment—one that could place Gaborone at the intersection of African investment, market connectivity and cross-border capital formation.
